How to Be Good at Football: 12 Tips from Pros

Be Fit and in Great Shape

The first step in knowing how to be good at football would begin with your own physique. If you are not in a great shape, you can't expect to be a good football player. Exercise regularly and diligently, until you arrive at a physical condition you are satisfied with.

Your physique depends on a number of factors: your diet, the amount of exercise you can tackle every day and your genetics. A trainer would be able to advise properly about everything, so if you are serious about learning how to be good at football, consult someone who knows this game professionally.

Be Determined

If learning how to be good at football is just a passing fancy for you, there is every chance that you will not succeed. To be a great football player, you need long-term passion and determination to achieve your goals. Unless this is something you want to achieve seriously in your life, step aside, because to be a great football player, you need to be as determined as humanly.

Start Practicing Right Now

It's not a matter of "next week" or "next month" anymore! If you want to become a good football player, you need to start practicing right NOW. Get down to the field with a ball and some friends, and start training, even if this is the first time that you are playing this game. If you are determined to succeed in this field, no one can stop you from becoming great.

Start with the Basics

The basics are always the most important, whether you are a newbie or if you have been playing football for years. You will need to master the basics - how to throw a ball as well as how to catch a ball - with someone who is interested in the game as well.

Initially, Play All the Positions

If you don't have a favorite position yet, start by playing all of them until you come to a decision. You don't really have to be exceptionally proficient in all the positions that you start with, just good enough to know which particular position is perfect for you, or you feel most confident about.

Choose the Position You Want to Continue With

Playing all the positions at the beginning will take you to the next step - your preferred position that you would want to continue with for your football career. Your initial football playing experience will come in handy during this decision, especially on whether you are better at catching, at throwing, whether you are fast, or whether you are strongly built compared to the rest of your team.

Practice the Skills Needed for Your Position

After you choose a particular position to play, you need to practice the skills needed for that position. If you have chosen to be an offensive linesman, you need to be tough in your game; if you are going to play defensive, you have to be quick - on your feet and in your mind.

Don't Underestimate the Importance of Practice

No matter how much of an expert you become, never give up practice. When you start skipping practice or stop trying to better yourself, you will start to fall behind others in your team. So, even when you start to consider yourself an expert with nothing more to learn, keep on practicing regularly.

Learn to Be Tough and Endure Pain

You have to be tough down in the fields, and you have to face a lot of painful experiences. You will most definitely get hit a number of times in a game, and get hurt. If you cannot learn to endure all that without breaking down, it is highly unlikely that you can be good at football.

Study All That You Can

Beside all the time spent in the field practicing, you have to give some time to study football as well. Learn the theories of the game, the rules and strategies. You will need to study about past football matches that had been famous for their strategies as well as read stories about great football players to learn from them.

Watch Films on Football and Famous Players

When reading isn't enough, you have to shift your focus to another direction - towards films. There are a number of good films on famous football players that you can learn from. Many football players have chosen this mode to strengthen their knowledge of this game, and this could be a good method for you too.

Get Along with Your Team

Football is a team game and here, in order to be a good player, you have to learn how to get along with your team members. Good teamwork can make a big difference in a game, and getting along with your teammates and your coach will give you more mental strength during a game.